There is nothing magical in it, all the events here are realistic, although not all are believable.
Once upon a time there lived a prince, his king-father died and the boy was forced to ascend the throne. He didn’t want this, he would have grown up like all children, playing with friends, and not ministers, meetings, laws and that’s all. But Monomakh’s hat is heavy, so little Matt had to learn the wisdom of government.
He really dreamed that everything would be fair, that everyone would be happy, that the country would prosper, and people would smile, but then the neighbors, three of them at once, declared war on the little king (a parallel with the history of Poland). I had to participate. Suddenly it turned out that the war is not a war game, it is not heroism or brilliance at all, but on the contrary, confusion, fear, stupid orders, tormented soldiers who have lost all courage and a huge hole in the economy.
In general, this is a politicized tale about the wars in Europe, because after the first war the next one began, Matish had to look for allies, and the allies are all very so-so, you can’t completely trust anyone. And it would be fine if this only concerned external forces, but in their own state there is no agreement among the comrades: the ministers are rowing for themselves, the people are rebelling, there is not enough money.
What to do? The most unusual element in the entire narrative appears on the stage - an African tribe, at a low stage of development, but very kind and humane, and also possessing countless treasures, comes to Europe to help Matt.Such an avant-garde move for a work written in the 20s in Europe.
The main character, King Matt, is by no means shown here as the only Dartagnan in a white coat among a pack of hungry dogs, oh no! He himself is to blame for this chaos: it was he who passed stupid laws, it was he who did not want to listen to the advice of ministers and got involved in adventures.
This is such a non-fairy tale. Without miracles and without embellishment. Without division into good and bad and without the triumph of good. And thanks to this, there are so many things to think about. About the complex structure of society, politics, economics. About how difficult, almost impossible, to please everyone. That good intentions will not necessarily lead to great results.
There is no message here that children are better than us adults, and if they ruled, the world would only benefit. No, on the contrary: children should remain children and not solve adult problems.
Not a very simple work, but deep and multifaceted. Dare him?
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